3 Things: Doug Stanhope, Vine Scares, and Tove Danovich / by Chris Duffy

Hi friends,

It's Saturday! Every week, I send out an email with one thing I think is great, one thing that made me laugh, and one thing I found interesting. Feel free to spread the word and share these emails with friends. If you're checking this out for the first time, you can see the archive and sign up to get these emails here.

 Upcoming shows

EVERYWHERE:
Comedy at Dreams streams live every Wednesday night. The show starts at 8 p.m. ET and loops for the rest of the night. You can watch on your phone using the Dreams app. If you're in NYC, you can get free tickets to be in our studio audience here.

You can listen to You're the Expert online here:  Link

Episodes of The Payoff are online here: Link

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY:
Thursday, March 9th at 7 p.m. at Vassar College. You're the Expert comes to Vassar with Josh Sharp, Gary Richardson, and Obehi Janice trying to guess what a leading professor does all day. Free with registration. Link

NYC:
Saturday, March 11th at 9:30 p.m. at The PIT. I'm one of the comedian judges for Dancify That! It's a hilarious show where dancers choreograph a performance to viral videos. Last time I was there, a live peacock came onstage. I'm very excited to see what happens this time. Link 

BANGOR, ME:
Saturday, March 18th at 7:30 p.m. You're the Expert headlines the Maine Science Festival with panelists Roy Wood, Jr., Michelle Buteau, and more.  Link

ATLANTA, GA:
Tuesday, March 21th at 7:30 p.m. at 7 Stages. You're the Expert returns to the Atlanta Science Festival with Josh Sharp, Shalewa Sharpe, and Chuck Bryant (from Stuff You Should Know). Link

WASHINGTON, D.C.:
Thursday, March 30th at 7:00 p.m. at National Geographic. We're taking over NatGeo's Grosvenor Auditorium for a very special live You're the Expert. Link

My full calendar with all upcoming shows is online here.

 This week's list

1 Thing I Think Is Great:


People often describe Doug Stanhope's comedy as "dark," "gritty," or "raw." He's certainly not your run-of-the-mill TV star. His material is profane. He smokes and drinks onstage. His audiences are rowdy. But he's a legendary performer because he pulls jokes out of material that most comics wouldn't dare even discuss. Here's a brilliant (but NSFW) Stanhope bit about nationalism and immigration. Doug Stanhope
 

1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:


On the complete other end of the comedy spectrum, "scare videos" require no writing, no particular intelligence, and no particular skill. But they are somehow still hilarious. We watched these in the writers room at work and no one could make it through all of them without bursting into laughter. There's something primal in our lizard brain that wants us to laugh at strangers screaming. Full disclosure: this video is dumb, don't click on any of the ads, and it's a compilation from a social media platform that doesn't even exist anymore. I bet you'll still laugh. Top 50 Vine Scares (h/t Ashley Brooke Roberts)


1 Interesting Thing:

"Until the 1970s, bluefin tuna was a literal trash fish. If it wasn't put into cat food, sport fishermen paid to have it hauled off to dumps (after taking a smiling photo next to their strung-up carcasses). Until the mid-1900s, tuna's reputation was so bad in Japan that it was referred to as neko-matagi, food too low for even a cat to eat." Tove Danovich is a food and agriculture journalist. Her research into the history of bluefin tuna (and whether the species can survive) is a fascinating look at how our tastes change over time and what that means for endangered fish. Caught Dead


Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend,
Chris